Deserved victory – Brown

The 33-year-old believes Andrew Fifita dropped the ball in Elliott Whitehead’s tackle rather than the latter stripping the ball away.

Had Fifita held on he would have capped a dramatic comeback for Tonga who were 20 points down with just seven minutes to go, but almost pulled it back in a heart-stopping last 10 minutes.

Despite the protests from Tonga fans and a petition to demand an explanation, Brown had a clear view of the incident and says the referee got it right.

“I think it was a clear-cut drop but obviously if that had been us, we’d have been wanting the same,” he said. “Any chance you can get of having another tackle or a video referral, you’re going to call for that.

“But I think it was a fair result. We were much the better side for the majority of the game.”